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Rush hour gridlock after A420 accident and traffic lights failure

OXFORD drivers faced rush-hour misery yesterday when temporary traffic lights and an accident on the A420 conspired to cause miles of queues and hours of delays.

To add to the problems on Oxford’s Botley Road, temporary traffic lights at the Ferry Hinksey junction malfunctioned.

A collision on the A420 at 7.30am near the Bampton turn resulted in an hour-long road closure, while heavy rain forced the closure of three roads on the outskirts of the city.

The diverted traffic clogged the main road into the city in both directions, with cars at a standstill near Cumnor Hill, and crawling between the Botley Interchange and the Hythe Bridge Street junction.

There were also reports of long traffic delays in St Giles.

Many irate drivers took to Twitter to unleash their anger at being stuck.

The issues also affected commuters as Oxford Bus Company said its services suffered due to the gridlock.

Queues built up at 7.30am but the volume of traffic had not subsided by 3pm when power to the Ferry Hinksey traffic lights was eventually restored. The lights were knocked out amid last week’s heavy flooding and took four days to repair.

However, yesterday the temporary lights set up there also failed as traffic was beginning to build.

Southern Electric said it would investigate. A power feed to the main lights was inaccessible on Friday, according to the energy company, as it was locked inside a council-owned box.

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Comments (2)

There was no need for the temporary lights in the first place, they were only there because the electric vans parked in the middle of the road needlessly whilst they dug a small hole in the pavement, Sunday was the same.

There was no need for the temporary lights in the first place, they were only there because the electric vans parked in the middle of the road needlessly whilst they dug a small hole in the pavement, Sunday was the same.Pavinder Msvarensy